Thursday Night Football Picks & Predictions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Chicago Bears
After rather disappointing Thursday Night Football matchups to start the season, we may be in for a treat as Chicago (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) hosts Tampa Bay (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) in week 5. With each franchise trying to lock their respective divisions, the Bears will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season to the Colts, while Bucks led by Tom Brady look to extend their three-game winning streak.
What Are The Thursday Night Football Picks & Predictions For Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Chicago Bears
Line Movement
The Buccaneers opened the week as -5.5 favorites, after the Chicago’s dud in the previous round, but with a lot of money coming in on Bears, the line has crumbled to 3.5. Bookies expect a tight game, so the under/over line has hovered around 44 all week eventually settling on 44.5 at most sportsbooks.
Tampa Bay Info and Notes
After stumbling to defeat vs the Saints in Week 1, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found their form and haven’t looked back since. Last week they came back from a 17-point deficit against the Chargers after another vintage performance from Brady completing 30-of-46 for 369 yards with 5 touchdowns. We’ll see if their offense can repeat a similar performance against the top-10 Chicago defense, especially as Brady will be without a few of his favorite targets. TE OJ Howard is out after rupturing Achille’s last weekend, as is WR Chris Goodwin (hamstring). Several other playmakers, including Mike Evans, Scotty Miller, and Justin Watson, are also banged up.
Due to the injury issues, there are no clear standouts from the daily fantasy perspective. Brady can be counted on for returns and traditionally enjoys Thursday Night Football, but probably won’t be able to replicate last week’s returns against a strong defense and with a depleted receiving core. You may want to take a punt on Rob Gronkowski who should see more playing time following Howard’s injury and has a proven understanding with his QB. Another Tampa Bay option is RB Ronald Jones who leads the team in rushing yards but also had six receptions last week. He should see even more opportunities to run against the Bears with LeSean McCoy out and Leonard Fournette and Kenjon Barner struggling with injuries.
Chicago Info and Notes
Most credit for their 3-1 start goes to Chicago’s defense. The offense continues to struggle and the puzzling QB situation is not helping. After replacing Mitch Trubinsky against Atlanta and leading the comeback, Nick Foles failed to put up numbers in Week 4 with the only Bears’ touchdown coming late in the game. Even so, he is likely to start again and we’ll see if his aggressive passing will cause problems for Tampa Bay’s defense. For the Bears to get something out of this game, he’ll have to find his receivers on a regular as the Bucks are second in the league against the run.
From the DFS angle, the Big Nick may be worth a shot, because if he gets going he’s hard to stop and just last week rookie James Herbert put almost 300 yards past Bucks’ frontline. WR Allen Robinson scored the only touchdown for Bears last week and seems to have a much better understanding with Foles than he did with Tubinsky so keep him on your radar as well. Of course, as always, you can expect decent returns from the Chicago defense.
TNF Betting Pick: Tampa Bay -3.5
With the line now at -3.5, we feel that the Bucks should be able to do the business even though they are on the road and will only get five days of rest. The defense will look to stifle Chicago’s running and challenge Foes to beat them, while Tom Brady is capable of getting at least a couple of scores out of his bruised offense.
